“We had just one senior in our lineup, so we were not looking for a big class,” explained Santoro, the 2009 EIWA Coach of the Year. “We wanted to fill a couple of weight classes, which we did. It’s a small, but talented class and one that should be a great addition to what we have in the room.”
Three of the five state titles in the incoming class were won by Austin Meys, who comes to Lehigh from Shenendehowa High School in New York. Meys was a five-time place winner in New York and amassed a career record of 263-8 in high school. He captured his first state title as an eighth grader at 103 before adding state championships in his junior (at 171) and senior (at 189) seasons. Meys was undefeated in his final two seasons, highlighted by a 45-0 senior campaign with 42 of those victories coming by fall, the second most pins in the nation.
Meys was also twice named Outstanding Wrestler at the New York State tournament and was just the third wrestler to win five Section II titles. He owns third and first place finishes at the Cadet Freestyle Nationals and is ranked in the top 100 nationally and top 10 at his weight class by InterMat. Meys, whose brother Hunter is a sophomore at Boston University, projects at 174 or 184 for the Brown and White.
Joey Napoli is the second member of the incoming class who has earned recognition on the national level. Napoli is a two-time state finalist and 2008 PIAA AAA Champion from Cumberland Valley High School. Competing at one of both Pennsylvania’s and the nations’ toughest weight classes, Napoli went 45-1 at 145 as a senior with the lone loss coming in the state finals. Napoli bounced back with an impressive showing in the postseason, beating Kendrick Sanders at the annual Dapper Dan Classic in Pittsburgh, before winning a Senior High School National Championship in Virginia Beach.
Napoli is ranked ninth in the nation among senior recruits by InterMat. He becomes the third NHSCA National Champion to attend Lehigh out of high school, joining Rick Hepp and Jon Trenge. Napoli plans to study engineering at Lehigh and projects at 149 or 157 for the Mountain Hawks.
“Both Meys and Napoli are tough on top, they’re both goers,” said Santoro. “They wrestle hard and like to pin. The big thing with this class is we brought in five guys who love to compete. That’s what we’re looking for. We also have a couple guys who have the ability to make an impact on our program fairly quickly.”
New Jersey native David Della Torre should bring increased depth to Lehigh’s group of lightweights. Della Torre sported a 115-21 career record for River Dell High School and capped his career by reaching the state finals at 112 as a senior. He also went 43-3 as a junior to place fourth at 103, and owns the second most wins in school history. Della Torre should provide solid depth for the Mountain Hawks at 125.
Albert Woody comes to Lehigh from the McDonogh School in Baltimore, Maryland. A three-time Maryland place winner and two-time National Prep place winner, Woody compiled a 147-51 career record, which culminated in a Maryland Independent Schools state title. Previously placing fourth and second in the state tournament, Woody dropped a weight class to 130, going 45-4 in his senior season. Woody, who projects at 141, also earned eighth and fourth place finishes at the National Prep Championships at Stabler Arena. He wrestled alongside Josh Fitch, a member of Lehigh’s 2008 recruiting class, at McDonogh.
Rounding out the incoming class is Watson Sweat from the Ensworth School in Nashville, Tennessee. Sweat is a three-time state place winner who placed fourth at 189 as a sophomore and then added sixth and third place finishes at 215 in his final two seasons. He should provide depth at the upper weights, especially 197 for the Mountain Hawks.
Lehigh returns almost its entire team for the 2009-10 season, including nine starters, seven NCAA qualifiers and two EIWA Champions.
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